Wow, I can't believe we are starting our third week of school!

It was great meeting so many parents on Back to School Night last week.  I hope I answered many of your questions.  The first two weeks were a period of learning and adjusting for both teachers and students - teachers to students and students to new teachers, schedules, rules, procedures, and expectations.

Fifth grade has probably had the biggest adjustment moving from classroom to classroom.  The teachers have been stressing organization with the students and they are getting used to the procedures.
In Math 5, we've been waking up the mathematical brain after a summer of non-use.  Students are slowly remembering things they learned before the summer break.  We are working on Place Value and took our first test which involved the place value of whole numbers.  Now we are working on the place value of decimals.  Thinking about decimals in terms of money has helped many of the students.  We will be taking a test on chapter 2 next week.
English 5 has been a very busy class.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, we work on journal writing.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we practice our DOL (Daily Oral Language).  In between we talk about grammar, such as, kinds of sentences and their punctuation, and subjects and predicates.  Students did very well on their first test.  Students also work on spelling and vocabulary which has probably been a little overwhelming to most fifth graders, however, I was pleased to see that the students are up to the challenge as the first test scores were very good.  Just a reminder that spelling and vocabulary homework is due every Thursday with the test then on Friday.  Currently we are working on simple and complete subjects and predicates.  Next week we will have a second test and then begin our first formal piece of writing.

In Religion 6 we have been studying the Old Testament.  The first chapter dealt with the different styles of writing in Bible and now we are learning about creation.  Students are working on a creation acrostic poem.  Our first test in religion was a bit of a challenge, however, now students are aware of the expectations.  There will be a test on Monday next week because we have quite a busy week with Reconciliation on Tuesday, letter writing to our minister of care, and practicing for our Mass which is on Friday, September 17.  Class parts for the Mass will be given out next week.
English 6 is also working on DOL (Daily Oral Language) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and journal writing on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Students had their first test on complete and simple subjects and predicates.  Next week the test will cover verb phrases, kinds of sentences and their punctuation, and compound subjects and predicates.  In addition, students will begin their first formal piece of writing shortly.  Spelling and vocabulary continue with homework due on Thursdays, and tests on Fridays.
Several projects were completed in Literature 6.  For the required summer reading book, Castles in the Attic, students created a shield which focused on the elements of conflict, resolution, theme, and plot.  A movie poster depicted the setting, plot, and characters of a second summer reading book.  Students then acted out movie trailers to go with their movie posters.  Currently we are working on the short story, "President Cleveland, Where are You?" to help students define the sequencing of events.  Students will also create trading cards to illustrate characters.  Literature also encompasses library time.  During library and computer time this quarter, students will be working on a project called the "ME Resource".  We hope to have them completed for you to see during Parent/Teacher conferences.

As you can see, we hit the ground running and we don't plan on stopping until June!    OK, maybe we will stop and rest during Christmas break! 

I hope to keep you updated approximately every two weeks or so during the year.
FYI- I usually do grading on Sundays and have some of them posted on TeacherEase by Monday, depending on the previous week's volume of assignments.  Also for your information, the grade may be on TeacherEase, however, the student may not have the test back since all students may not have taken the test because of absences.  Tests are not handed back until all students have completed the test.

Until next time, have a good week.

Hello Everyone!
   Where did our summer break go???  I hope you all did some fun things.  I can't wait to hear all about your summer break.  I do hope everyone got a chance to read the summer reading books.  I am anxious to hear your opinions about the books.  I have been busy this past week getting the classroom ready.  I sent postcards to everyone in my homeroom and asked you to e-mail me.  Be sure to send that to me.
Congratulations to Claire R. who was the first to send me an e-mail!  
   So did anyone practice their Math Facts?  I guess we will find out pretty soon how well you know them. 
   Well, I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday.  It's going to be a great year!

Mrs. Acks 

   

   It's progress report time!  Grades have been updated and are available on teacherease.  We are halfway through the 3rd quarter. 
   Our big focus for the month of March is the curriculum project.  Students in both 5th and 6th grade have received their topics.  Fifth graders are working on landmarks and sixth graders are researching important events in history.  Students chose a small book from the school library that was at their reading level so they could focus on the strategy of writing.  In computer class, they are researching websites and will be typing their reports.  In library, they are looking through magazines and the encyclopedia.  All work will be done at school except for their display board which they should begin working on during or after spring break.  They should be far enough along in their research at that point to begin creating a display board on their topic.  The students are eager and excited, but we need to take the project slowly working on all the correct steps to creating an informative research paper.
   In fifth grade Math, March will be focused on fractions.  We currently on working on LCM, GCF, and prime factorization which will help the students with fraction work.  Shortly students will receive the materials for their 3rd quarter math project - Factor Flowers! to get us in the mood for spring!
   Sixth graders completed the novel study of Tuck Everlasting.  They created giant ferris wheels to demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary, theme, mood, characters, setting, plot, and point of view.  Several students decided to watch the movie version on their after we finished the book and I was happy to hear that many felt the book was better than the movie and gave thoughtful reasons for their opinions.  I am also looking forward to seeing quite a few students at our morning book talk next week.  Homecoming was a challenging book to read.
   This week we also began our Lenten journey as we carry the cross through these forty days of Lent to Christ's resurrection. 

It's time to begin a new quarter.  We'll clean out our folders, change our desks, and once again get a fresh start.

This week is our class Mass on Friday.  We'll be writing our thank you letters to Frs. Venard, Bob, Kelly, and Raj.  It is the year of the priest and it's the 6th grade's turn to show their appreciation to our priests.  In addition we'll be getting ready for Catholic Schools week which starts with "Pack the Pews" on Saturday at the 5 pm Mass.  Also on Saturday, students are being asked to volunteer to help with the spaghetti dinner.

We've been working hard since Christmas break.  In Math 5, we finished up our unit on decimals, however we are still practicing what we have learned.  Students are working at their own pace to complete a series of 15 check-ups to assess what they have learned.  This past week had us reviewing the multiplication properties, functions, and the order of operations.  We will finish this week with a Unit Test and then begin fractions.  Students still need to practice their Math Facts at home.  In 5th grade we do not have time to spend learning the multiplication tables, this needs to be done at home.  Flash cards or any of several math sites help students practice, please encourage them to practice.  I've added 2 practice sheets under DOCUMENTS on the left side.

In English 5, we finished a grammar unit on nouns and verbs.  Most students have completed their memorization of the Linking and Helping Verbs.  Curriculum Fair topics will be distributed soon and we will begin the research process.  DOL, spelling, and vocabulary continue as well.

6th graders are working on pronouns in English.  They have received their Curriculum Fair topics that deal with important events in our history.  After completing the small research paper on the Titanic, they should be ready to tackle the steps of their larger Curriculum Fair project. 

In Literature, we are reading the novel "Tuck Everlasting".  In addition, many students are reading "The Homecoming" on their own for our book talk in February.  All reading for pleasure can be counted toward a ticket for Great America.  Book reports are due in the next couple of weeks.  Please keep encouraging your children to read!  Many students in this class are already prolific  readers and that is wonderful! 
And we huddled around my computer to watch our ND6 News Magazine.  I put together the video clips and it ended up being a 17 minute newscast, but I wasn't able to get the DVD I burned to play on the DVD player, so we watched it on the computer.  Aaahh, technology sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!  The students did an excellent job on that project.

Religion 6 has us learning about the period of Judges and the first king of Israel and his successor, David.  Recently, we had a visit from our minister of care.  It was good for the students to put a face to the person for whom we offer our prayers and write letters to.

Hard to believe but there are less than three weeks left to the second quarter!  I hope everyone had a great holiday and vacation break.  We had a busy December. 

In the 5th grade we also had a sickly December.  We are still doing catch-up work.  By quarters-end we'll have everyone caught-up.  In Math, the students finished their CD graph projects which mostly were very good, a couple even outstanding!  A lot of effort went into some of those projects.  We've been tackling long division, compatible numbers, and estimating.  Now we move into division of decimal numbers and that should round out the quarter.

In English, we are working on our Verbs - linking, helping, and action verbs.  Just one more chapter to finish and we'll have our big Unit test to check grammar comprehension to complete the quarter.  We've done some creative science fiction and personal narrative writings.  We've also started the Every Day Edit for DOL.

In 6th grade, the students completed their study of Moses and the Ten Commandments in Religion.  We're working on creating paper T-shirts with commandment slogans.  Some are creative and some are interesting!  We're having a Chapter 6 test this week and next week, we'll have a Unit Test on the the Book of Exodus.  Our class Mass is coming up on January 29th. 

In Literature, we worked on our Christmas Poe-TREE.  (I figured out how to add pictures!)
Here are the students in front of their wonderful Christmas Poe-TREE creation! We studied several styles of poetry, their form and looked for meaning, then the students tried their hand at creating their own.  The lightbulbs contain haikus, the ornaments are limericks, and the presents under the tree (which are hidden by the students) are free verse.  It's so cute, I hate to take it down...  Next, we start our first novel, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.  We'll be working in particular on questioning, making predictions, and completing a character study by making inferences.   Our books will be filled with Post-It Notes!

In English, we are working on a five-paragraph expository on the Titanic.  We are finalizing this project this week and then we begin our study of pronouns.  We continue to work on our DOL, Spelling, and Vocabulary, also.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for your Christmas generosity and all the support you give.  Looking forward to working with you to create a great 2010!

P.S.  Working on one of my New Year's resolutions:  to try and keep the homework pages up to date - wish me luck!

What a busy few weeks we have had!  The quarter ended and reports cards were received.  Then it was good to visit with students and parents at conferences, these past two weeks.  In general, our first quarter went very well.  It is hard to believe that progress reports for quarter two are just around the corner - December 4th.  So I encourage students to stay focused and spend some time on your school work.  Try not to hurry through your work.
For the 5th Grade -
In math, students are working on their second quarter project - the CD of Graphs.  This is the culmination project for our study on graphing data.  Students are to generate their own data and then show the data using a variety of graphs.  This project is due on Thursday, December 3rd.  In the meantime, we have been working diligently on the multiplication of whole number and decimals and will wrap that up before Thanksgiving, then move on to division in December.  Please have students continue to work on their math facts.  This surprisingly is still an issue for many students.  They need to be quicker at multiplying and dividing. 
In English, we finished our Pest Patrol writing projects working on descriptive and how to paragraphing.  In grammar, the study of nouns has been the focus, singular, plural, and possessive; regular and irregular.  Their vocabulary is increasing with Spelling and Vocab.
For the 6th Grade -
In religion, we completed the study of Genesis and created timelines.  We are now working on the Book of Exodus using the "Ten Commandments" to visualize the plight of the Hebrews and how Moses led them out of Egypt.  Students are reflecting on this and creating their own Book of Exodus.  We also had our second class Mass which went very well.
In literature, book reports are due Wednesday, November 25.  They will also have another one due before Christmas.  Please encourage your students to find time in their day to read.  I have been reading them the Mock Newbery book "Gone From These Woods" during D.E.A.R. time and we will be finishing that before Thanksgiving.  We recently finished our unit on nonfiction, in particular, biographies and autobiographies.  Students will now take one of our stories and create a video magazine.  There are four groups of students and they will have to create the video in school during the second week of December either in the morning or after school in my classroom.  After Thanksgiving break, we will start our first novel study, "Tuck Everlasting".
In English, grammar has been the focus, particularly the study of nouns - that is predicate nouns, complements, direct and indirect objects.  In December, we begin a 5-paragraph research report on the Titanic which will help students complete their curriculum project during 4th quarter.  We continue to improve our vocabulary with spelling and vocal lessons.
During Advent, we will be doing a few service projects, beginning with our 6-8th grade field trip to Feed My Starving Children in Aurora.  We will be filling bags of food for the missions.  More information will be forthcoming about some of our other projects.
As we get ready for this Thanksgiving break, let me use this occasion to say thank you to everyone for the many gifts you have given to Notre Dame School and our classroom either through the donation of your time or items.  It is truly appreciated.
Have safe travels and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends!